# Finance for Product People: From Unit Economics to Business Cases

> Put numbers behind product decisions. Work out what one sale really earns, read a P&L without mixing up GMV and revenue, see why profit is not cash, plan cash month by month, judge growth spending and product bets with NPV, build forecasts and budgets, and pick the costs that matter, all on realistic data from an online tutoring school.

- Source: https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product
- Free, no sign-up needed to read.

## Modules

### Module 1. What does one lesson earn us?

What a lesson and a package leave after their own costs; fixed, variable and step costs; break-even and margin of safety; whether cheaper group lessons pay.

- [Contribution margin per unit: what one lesson leaves](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/contribution-margin.md): Contribution margin per unit, step by step: price minus tutor payout, fees and video minutes, and what a lesson and a package really earn.
- [Cost behavior: fixed, variable and step costs](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/fixed-variable-and-step-costs.md): Cost behavior on a real year of costs: which costs move with lessons, which don't, and which jump at a threshold.
- [Break-even point in units and margin of safety](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/break-even.md): Break-even point in units: how many lessons a month cover the fixed costs, and how far sales can fall before a loss.
- [Case: should Klasna launch group lessons?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/group-lessons-case.md): A group-lesson pilot sold well. Judge it by contribution margin: fill per session, cannibalization of the 1:1 lessons it replaced and the break-even of a new coordinator.

### Module 2. Are we actually profitable?

Reading a P&L top to bottom; GMV, commission and what counts as revenue; when prepaid and subscription money becomes revenue; explaining a quarter.

- [How to read a P&L, top to bottom](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/reading-a-pnl.md): How to read a profit and loss statement: revenue, cost of revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, EBITDA and operating profit, and what the P&L doesn't tell you.
- [Take rate: what a marketplace really earns](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/gmv-vs-revenue.md): Take rate and GMV vs revenue: why the money families pay is not all Klasna's revenue, and when a company reports the full price instead.
- [Deferred revenue: when prepaid lessons are earned](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/when-revenue-is-earned.md): A deferred revenue example: prepaid money is a liability until the lesson happens, then recognition as lessons are delivered or a subscription runs, and what to do with lessons nobody takes.
- [Case: a board report for a new board member](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/quarter-for-the-board-case.md): A board report on the quarter: rebuild Klasna's autumn P&L from raw lines, separate what will repeat from what won't, and back the memo with numbers.

### Module 3. Where did the money go?

Profit vs cash; the cash flow statement and how the three statements connect; burn and runway; a profitable company short of cash.

- [Profit is not cash: net income vs cash flow](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/profit-is-not-cash.md): Net income vs cash flow, month by month: how accruals, prepayments, invoices and equipment make the P&L and the bank disagree, and how to get from one to the other.
- [The cash flow statement and the three financial statements](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/cash-flow-statement.md): How the three financial statements link, with a cash flow statement example: operating, investing and financing cash, built from profit with the indirect method.
- [Burn rate, cash runway and staying alive](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/burn-and-runway.md): Gross and net burn, how to calculate cash runway, and whether the company reaches its next good season before the money runs out.
- [Case: profitable on paper, short of cash in August](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/august-cash-case.md): A year of profit and cash side by side: find what causes the cash flow problems, size the August gap and write a plan to fix it without panic borrowing.

### Module 4. How much cash does growth need?

Working capital; receivables and payment terms; a twelve-month cash plan with seasonality; funding corporate growth without a loan.

- [Working capital: who pays whom first](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/working-capital.md): Prepayments, payouts and invoices: the cash conversion cycle, working capital on one date, when negative working capital funds growth and why other lines eat cash.
- [Receivables and payment terms](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/receivables-and-terms.md): What a 60-day payment term really costs, how to put it in the price, when an early-payment discount pays off, and how DSO shows late payers.
- [A twelve-month cash flow forecast](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/twelve-month-cash-plan.md): A cash flow forecast example, month by month with real payment timing: prepayments, payouts twice a month, quarterly invoices and the summer valley a yearly total hides.
- [Case: can Klasna grow Teams without a loan?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/teams-growth-case.md): Three profitable corporate deals and a summer cash low: test invoice payment terms, invoicing, prepayment and pace against the buffer, and decide whether working capital financing needs a loan.

### Module 5. Does growth pay for itself?

Price vs volume; discounted LTV and CAC payback in cash terms; why fast growth eats cash; doubling marketing before exam season.

- [Price vs volume: how many customers can a discount lose?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/price-vs-volume.md): The price vs volume trade-off: how much volume a price cut must win, or a price rise may lose, before contribution moves.
- [Discounted LTV and CAC payback in cash](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/ltv-and-cac-payback-in-cash.md): What a customer is worth in today's money and when their acquisition cost comes back.
- [Overtrading: why fast growth eats cash](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/growth-eats-cash.md): Overtrading in numbers: acquisition is paid today and earned back over months, so a fast growth plan digs a cash hole first.
- [Case: double marketing before exam season?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/marketing-budget-case.md): Marginal CAC by channel, what a seasonal customer is worth and the cash a doubled marketing budget needs.

### Module 6. Is this bet worth making?

Time value of money; NPV, IRR and payback; hurdle rate and cost of capital; building a video classroom vs paying per minute.

- [Time value of money: why a hryvnia next year is worth less](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/time-value-of-money.md): Time value of money with examples: present value, future value, discounting and the rate you discount at.
- [NPV, IRR and payback for a product bet](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/npv-irr-payback.md): How to calculate NPV and IRR for a product bet, what payback adds, and where each one misleads.
- [Hurdle rate and cost of capital](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/hurdle-rate.md): What return a bet must beat, and why riskier bets need more.
- [Case: build our own video classroom or keep paying per minute?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/build-or-buy-case.md): A make or buy decision in cash: two options, their incremental cash flows, the NPV and the assumptions that decide it.

### Module 7. What will next year look like?

A driver-based forecast; scenarios and sensitivity; budgets people believe; plan vs actual by price, volume, mix and currency.

- [Driver-based forecasting](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/driver-based-forecast.md): Driver-based forecasting: revenue and profit from learners, lessons, price and payout instead of last year plus ten percent.
- [Scenarios and sensitivity](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/scenarios-and-sensitivity.md): Which assumption matters most, and a plan for the weak case.
- [Budgets people believe](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/budgets-people-believe.md): Top-down targets, bottom-up detail, and no padding.
- [Case: plan vs actual by price, volume and mix](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/plan-vs-actual-case.md): Price volume mix analysis: splitting a plan vs actual miss into price, volume, mix and currency.

### Module 8. Which costs matter for this decision?

Relevant, sunk and opportunity costs; the allocation trap; debt vs equity; a one-page finance memo for a funding round.

- [Relevant, sunk and opportunity costs](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/relevant-and-sunk-costs.md): Which numbers belong in a decision and which only feel like they do.
- [The allocation trap: should we drop programming?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/allocation-trap.md): A subject that looks loss-making only because of the shared costs it carries.
- [Debt vs equity: leverage, dilution and risk](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/debt-vs-equity.md): What a loan and an investor each do to returns, risk and ownership.
- [Case: a one-page finance memo for the next round](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/funding-memo-case.md): The numbers an investor asks for, and a recommendation on how to fund growth.